‘Balan Wonderland’ Day-One Patch Mitigates Epilepsy Risk

The spiritual successor to Nights Into Dreams and the late 90s Sega-esque Balan Wonderland shipped to consumers today with a dreadfully serious asterisk. Do not play the game before downloading the day-one patch. Some scenes in the game may trigger epileptic episodes in viewers. According to one expert, the scenes are so strong, people without a history of episodes should be exceedingly cautious.

Liana Ruppert, a games journalist who has become a meaningful voice for educating gamers and consumers alike about epilepsy, warned that a certain boss fight in Balan Wonderland “is not just using flashing effects, it rapid-fires a series of white on background flashes. The quick succession is instantly dangerous, and because of that, I made a PSA on social media to give a warning,” Ruppert said in their initial coverage. “It’s not just dangerous to photo-sensitive epileptics; it’s dangerous to everyone,” she added.

A new Twitter announcement from the official Balan Wonderland account said that the epilepsy-inducing scenes have been changed in the day-one patch for the game.

The message, however, does not specifically mention what scenes have been altered in the patch. The vague message has left several people more concerned than satisfied.